The River Mite is a river in the county of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
in northern
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The valley through which the river Mite runs is called Miterdale.
The name Mite is thought to be of British origin and related to a root such as 'meigh': to urinate or dribble, possibly a wry reflection of the relatively minor nature of the Mite.
The Mite rises on Tongue Moor, immediately below the peak of
Illgill Head
Illgill Head is a fell in the English Lake District. It is known more commonly as the northern portion of the Wastwater Screes. The fell is high and stands along the south-east shore of Wastwater, the deepest lake in England.
Topography
The p ...
to the north west, at an altitude of around . After coalescing into a stream, the upper Mite runs over the waterfalls of Miterdale Head and descends into the narrow but steep-sided upper Miterdale valley. It then flows to the south west, past the Bakerstead outdoor pursuit centre. It flows to the north of both the village of
Eskdale Green and
Muncaster Fell, before reaching
Muncaster Mill, just after which the river becomes tidal. Finally, the River Mite meets the
River Esk and
River Irt at the estuarine confluence of the three, near the ancient village of
Ravenglass
Ravenglass is an English coastal village in west Cumbria that lies between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven, on the estuary of three rivers: the Esk, Mite and Irt. It is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. Formerly in ...
on the Cumbrian coast.
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway
The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum-gauge railway, minimum-gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth for Boot railway station, Dalegarth Station near Boot, Cumbria, Boot in the valley o ...
, and one of their steam locomotives is named after the river. Upper Miterdale formed one of the archetypes upon which Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
based the valley of ''Swallowdale
''Swallowdale'' is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome and first published by Jonathan Cape in 1931. The book features Walker siblings (The Swallows) and Blackett sisters (The Amazons), camping in the hills and moorland ...
'' in the eponymous volume of Swallows and Amazons series
The ''Swallows and Amazons'' series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in E ...
of stories.
Tributaries
*Robin Gill
*Black Gill
*Merebeck Gill
*Mere Beck
*Gill Beck
References
Mite, River
1Mite
{{England-river-stub